Recovery from Borderline Personality Disorder May Be Attainable

Posted on March 6, 2014

Recovery from Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) may be possible, and the roots lie in understanding the biosocial model. This model originated with Marsha Linehan's theory, which argued that there were both social and biological reasons that BPD develops.

Borderline Personality Disorder is often considered one of the most difficult diagnoses with which to work. But in my many years of experience working with individuals with BPD, I found that there are reasons behind their actions which, when understood, can help lead to empathy, acceptance, and ultimately change.

According to the biosocial model, people with BPD frequently have differences in their neurotransmitter and neurological functioning. Research has shown that they many have neurotransmitter issues that make them more emotional, aggressive, or reactive to stimuli - making them more prone to emotionally intense experiences.

People with BPD have usually been invalidated throughout life which leads to emotional sensitivity. For example, imagine a child who is hungry or frustrated trying to communicate this to his or her parents but being told that their feelings don't matter over and over again.

Invalidation serves to demonstrate to children that their feelings are wrong and that somehow they need to look externally, to other people, to know what they are feeling and if their feelings have value.